The present invention relates to a scraper for snow removal machines for scraping snow lying on road surfaces.
A scraper for a snow removal machine of this kind is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. SHO-51-34105 entitled xe2x80x9cSnow Removing Case for Snow Removal Machinexe2x80x9d, and in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. SHO-52-14347 entitled xe2x80x9cBottom Scraping Blade for Snow Removal Machinexe2x80x9d.
SHO-51-34105 includes an auxiliary ground plate fastened with bolts to a lower end portion of the snow removing case. The ground plate is adjustable up and down as desired. When lowered, the plate prevents an auger from contacting the ground. When raised, the plate allows the auger to crush frozen snow, thus avoiding any large resistance which would otherwise be applied to the lower end portion of the snow removing case.
SHO-52-14347 includes a bottom scraping blade movably fitted in an arc-shaped long groove formed in a lower portion of an auger case. The scraping blade can be shifted upward and downward along the groove. To remove hard snow, the bottom scraping blade is held higher than the bottom of the auger so that the auger alone scrapes snow under reduced propulsion resistance, resulting in an efficient snow removal operation.
Augers can scrape frozen snow or trampled hard snow. When an auger contacts a surface of a roadway, a sidewalk or the like, it may scratch or damage the surface. For preventing such scratching, the auxiliary ground plate and the bottom scraping blade may be lowered. However, the ground plate and the scraping blade are generally made from steel plates and hence still have the possibility of scratching the ground.
To prevent such damage to a road surface, it is possible to replace a steel plate with a resin plate. In this case, however, it is troublesome to demount the auxiliary ground plate and the bottom scraping blade of one material and then mount those of the other material each time this becomes necessary.
Further, if the auxiliary ground plate and the bottom scraping blade are lowered to any unsuitable levels, they may strike road surfaces or hard objects such as stones and thus be damaged. It is quite hard to replace the damaged auxiliary ground plate and the bottom scraping blade with new ones on the spot.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a scraper for a snow removal machine, which enables improved snow removal performance and easy blade change.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a scraper for a snow removal machine, mountable to a lower end portion of a snow removing plate, for scraping snow on a road surface, which comprises: a polygonal prism member rotatably mountable to the snow removing plate; a plurality of blades detachably attached to respective surfaces of the polygonal prism member; and a rotation prevention member for preventing rotation of the polygonal prism member.
The blades may be of the same material, or may be made from different kinds of material.
It is desired that the scraper has the blades attached to respective surfaces of the polygonal prism member. One of the blades is selected for use in accordance with snow quality, the kind of a pavement to be cleared of snow, and the condition of each blade. This enables efficient snow removing operation and protection of the pavement surface, thereby improving snow removing performance of the machine. The scraper has the blades provided on the polygonal prism member, and the rotation prevention member for preventing rotation of the polygonal prism member. The rotation prevention member prevents rotation of the polygonal prism member which has been rotated at a desired angle to select a desired blade. Thus, the change of blades is facilitated. When the blades are made of the same material and one of the blades used is deformed or damaged and becomes unusable, that blade can be replaced with another blade of the same material in a short time. Thus the change of blades of the same material is facilitated. When the blades are made of different kinds of material, one of the blades can be selected in accordance with snow quality or the kind of a pavement to be cleared of snow. For example, a steel blade is used to scrape hardened snow, and a resin blade is used to protect a pavement from being scratched. Such blades of different kinds of material enable selection of one of the blades in a short time. Thus the change of blades of different kinds of material is facilitated.
The scraper may further comprise a guiding/gap-closing member mountable to a lower end portion of the snow removing plate for closing a gap between the scraper and the snow removing plate and guiding transfer of snow from the scraper to the snow removing plate. The guiding/gap-closing member attached to the snow removing plate abuts against the scraper at the opposite side. Thus, a gap between the scraper to be rotated and the snow removing plate can be closed to prevent snow removed from leaking rearwards from the boundary between the scraper and the snow removing plate. When the scraper is rotated, part of the guiding/gap-closing member opposite to the scraper is pushed and bent by the scraper, not interfering with the scraper, and thereby allowing the scraper to rotate easily. Further the guiding/gap-closing member is mounted to guide transfer of snow from the scraper to the snow removing plate, enabling smooth transfer of snow, and thereby improving the snow removing performance of the machine.